Fluid storage system



May 29, 1956 v. A. BREITE'NBACH 2,747,774

FLUiD STORAGE SYSTEM Filed OCT.. 51, 1952 INVENTOR. VERNON A. BREITENBACH /S 4 TTOENE VS.

HYDROCARBON FLUID.

United States Patent Ther Standard Oil(ompazny, Cleveland, 0hio,. a corporation. of= Ohio Application October 31, 1952, Serial No. 31810011 2l Claims.A (Cl..222395) This invention relates to' the' storage of iluid'- products", particularly those which are combustible or volatilei Many oftheproblems which are involvedin the storage of fluids suchlas various petroleum products, for example, are at least partially solved bythe use of underground storage facilities. Such facilities afford naturaltemperature control; which reducesl losses due' t'o vaporizatio'n'. They also' afordrelative safety both from situations' which might causeH explosions andfrom the danger to-'lifeand property attendant onsuch mishaps.

Underground storage systems; however, arethemselves costly to construct a'ndtheir maintenance and' operation maybe troublesome.

ltis, therefore; one object' of thisinvention to'p'rovde an*I improved? system for storing'lluids whicliis* relatively safe, inexpensive-and eflicient.'

It isanother 'object' of 'theinventio'n to provideastorage systemutilizing'natural or artificial bodies of 'water' as `the enveloping medium.

In accordance with'th'e invention, a storage vesselmay be submergedl in a body'of' water suchas` a lake,` river, harbor or thev like; ballastingl being us'e'dx as" might be necessary to'force4 th'eco'ntainer beneath' the water surface. The storage vesselwilliiiiidiitst support onthe bottom of the bodyof'the Water. A plurality of conduits arel connected tothe vessel; atleast oneA conduit' being adapted1 tofr accommodate the fluidl toL be'" stored; and; a't leastoneother' toaccommodate water which may b'e used asa cooperating fluidftodisplacelortobe displace'db'y the fluid to Vbe stored;

So that walls of only the lightest andl thinnest'construc'- tion might .be usedffonthe closed vessel,.thereby-reducing materially the cost of the installation, the lluidwithin the vesel may bekept un'deraV hydrostatic pressure corresponding ,approximately to the. external.' hydrostatic. pressure on` the'vessel. To this end meanslmay be provided for maintaining therwater conduitsubstantially filled with water at all times.

The invention--may be better understood by referring to the following specilication taken with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a diagrammatic view of a storage vessel formed in accordance with the present invention and disposed in a body of water, and

Figure 2 is a view in vertical section of the storage vessel of Figure l.

Referring to the drawing, the invention is illustrated as comprising a storage vessel 10, described in detail below, disposed at the bottom of a body of water 11, which may be either natural or artificial as dictated by prevailing conditions. The storage vessel is preferably ballasted by means such, for example, as concrete masses 12 or 13, or both, causing the vessel to tnd its support on the rm layer 14 beneath the body of Water. In some formations, such as that given as illustrative, the layer 14 may be covered by a clay stratum 15 and a silt stratum 16 in which the storage vessel will be embedded, as shown in the drawing. To anchor the vessel against lateral move ice - 2 ment; dependingVV feet' 175 and 18 may bef afiix'ed t'o` its underside which will embed themselves in` the layer 1'4'.

structurally; the storage vessel 16 may comprise a relatively light', fully closed shell-including' a cylindrical wall 19, an upper surface 20, and` a lower surface 2.1i which maybe for-med, for example, of `relatively thin4 sheetsteel suitably protected:againstV corrosion', kor of plastic, rubber or.' the lilte.` The upper surface ofthe vessel may bep'r'ovide'dlwithal skirt portion 22toco`n't'ain the ballast 12 and, inlo'rder that the balla'stlv may bersupp'or'ted` in. thisposition without? damage toi the thinz walle'd vessel, the upper surface 20fofithe1vesse'l may bel suitably reinforced' by trus'swo'rk-indicated generallyV by thef numeral-23. Such trusswor-k may include? horizontal and.v verticali supports. It` desired a suitabilefmanhole oriotherclo'sure m'eanstnot shown.)- may bei provided in the vessel for. purposes such ascleaning;I and.' installing.' the lower ballast 13'.l It will `be understood;- h'owever, that'the' storage vessel is com'- plet'ely closedV When in operation, save for the communicationluestablished.` therewith'by con'duitvmeans 24 and- 25 connected-to external` facilities: as. described' below.

The conduit means 24f is adaptedto convey thefiluid to be stored to-an'df from thevesselv and, asbest seen in Eig;- 2,. m'ayinclude-afpipe` communicating with the upper regionsofthe. storage've'ssel, preferably attached to' the upper surface: 20`ther'eof. The iluid to be storedf should b'e nommisciblel with'.` Water.' and of lower specific gravity such as': lubricatingandifueloils, kerosene, naphtha, gasoline, liquid petroleum, gas, etc.

The: conduit' means 25 is: adapted to convey water to and: from thev vesself and' may include: apipeY communicatin'gtwith the` lower? regions! of thelvess'e'l, preferably by entering the vesselv through' its upper'.` surface' 2U' and passing' downwardlyy therethrough.' soA that. its discharge openin'gf25a is disposedi'clo's'eto: th'e bottomsurfa'ce 21.

The conduit means. 24 for' ther.' storage' fluidi can' be connected to ashore installation" (noti shown)l through a conduit 261 andla pump27 havinga' by-passvvalvelassernbly 27afand atshuteotf valves28.' Thepumpmay'bedisposed on the shore:or'at'anintermediatep'ointsuch as on a barge;.o`at.or pi'er. Barge" connectionsT 2.9 can be provided for loading and unloading barges and' these connection'sca'n beJ tied Ito 'the'.v pipefline' 26 through aline 30 havingla valve!` 31` shuntingA the: pump 27 and' through a line-i321havingfawalve 33' connectedl in' series withV the pump 27 and the vessel.

The-conduitlmeansZS for' the water' may 'be' connected to' a' suitable'f'sourcei offwat'e'r which may bei the body of Water' 1.1i. In' this casela: flexible' hose 34 may be' supporte'dbya lloa't 35 'tofhav'eits discharge endla maintai-ned'l ati a1. positionrto avoid; introducing' silt" into the vessel and to avoid attracting debrisY oating on or near the surface of the water. A valve 36 can be disposed between the flexible hose 26 and the conduit means 25. It will be understood that the hydrostatic head on the contents of the vessel will be maintained at a maximum value closely approximating that on the outside of the vessel.

Also connected to the conduit means 25 is a pipe line 37 including valves 38 and 39 and a pump 40, having suitable by-pass connections 40a, the pipe line 37 leading either to a source of water (not shown) other than' the body of water 11, such for example as a fresh water supply ashore or alternatively to the body of water 11 through a pipe line 41 having a valve 42. For convenience, the valves 36 and 38 can be connected together by a mechanical linkage 43 so as to be operated in reverse tandem, one closing and one opening for any given hand of rotation of the control means.

Pumping may be accomplished in any one of several ways or by a combination of ways utilizing the pumps 27 and 40 connected respectively to the lluid and Water conduit means 24 and 25. The filling and emptying operations may be carried out by either pump or by both pumps, as desired, it being required in any event that the several valves in the system be adjustedl to afford a complete circuit between the water source and the storage fluid source. Assuming by way of example that the vessel is initially filled with water, the fluid to be stored may be pumped into the vessel through the conduit means 24 to replace the water.

As a first example of how this may be done, it will be assumed that the source of fluid to be stored is derived from the shore installations. Assuming the source of the fluid is not under pressure, the pump 27 will be connected in series with the pipe line 26, the valve 28 being opened and the pump by-pass valve 27a and the barge connection valves 31 and 33 closed. This will enable the pump 27 to suck the fluid from its source and force it via the conduit means 24 into the storage vessel 10. The water discharge from the vessel due to displacement by the fluid to be stored can be accommodated by closing the valve 38 and opening the valve 36 to discharge the water into the body of water 11 through the flexible hose 34.

Alternatively, the pump 27 in the conduit means 24 may be by-passed by means of the by-pass connections 27a and the pump 40 in the water conduit means 25 used. In this case the valve 36 will be closed and the valve 38 opened. The discharge from the pump 40 can be by way of the pipe 41 to the body of water 11, the valve 42 being open and the valve 39 closed. The by-pass connections 40a of the pump 40 will be closed. The pumpv 40 will then operate as a suction pump drawing the water from the vessel 10 and causing the fluid to be stored to be drawn into the vessel.

The methods outlined above may be duplicated in reverse to cause the fluid product to be removed from the vessel. Thus the pump 27 can be used as a suction pump to Withdraw the fluid from storage and to cause water to be drawn into the vessel and the pump 40 can be used to force water into the vessel to displace the fluid. In certain cases it will be possible to use a source' of water under pressure, such as in fresh water supply mains, to force the fluid out. In the latter case valvesv 42 and 36 will be closed and valves 38, 39 and 40a opened.

It will be understood that the two pumps 27 and 40 may, if necessaiy, be used in series, one pulling and the other pushing.

Also, the barge connections 29 may be serviced using any of the combinations of pumping means described above, or, if desired, the barge may use its own pump, if any.

In all cases it will be understood that the arrangement of the conduits is such that the hydrostatic pressure within the vessel is maintained substantially equal to the hydrostatic pressure outside the vessel so that the structure of the vessel may be relatively light and its initial cost kept at a minimum.

Thus a highly effective means of storing various fluids is provided in which the temperature will be maintained substantially constant over long periods of time, that is, will not vary appreciably between day and night, and will not vary widely over the seasons of the year, in which the bulk of the assembly is completely concealed from view and out of harms way, and in which the vessel is relatively light and inexpensive to install and maintain.

Other forms, embodiments and applications of the invention coming within the proper scope of the following claims will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

l. In a storage vessel system for a fluid lighter than water and immiscible therewith, in combination, a storage vessel disposed in a body of water, the vessel being closed on all sides except for the entry of the hereafter mentioned' conduits and weighted to rest on a formation at the bottom of the body of water so as to be fully enveloped thereby, first conduit means for the fluid product to be stored, said first conduit means having one end communicating with the inside of the closed vessel near the upper end thereof and having another end to receive and discharge the fluid, second conduit means comprising a stand pipe having one of its ends communicating with the inside of the vessel near the lower end thereof and having another end disposed above the vessel and near the surface of said body of water and adapted to receive and discharge water, whereby water may enter and leave the closed vessel only through the second conduit means, means affording a water input to said second conduit means for maintaining a hydrostatic head on the contents within the vessel which will substantially counteract the hydrostatic pressure on the outside of the vessel, and pumping means connected to said vessel for establishing a flow of the fluid product into and out of the vessel through the first conduit means and for correspondingly establishing a flow of water respectively out of and into' the vessel through the second conduit means, whereby the inflow of water to the vessel via the stand pipe is maintained relatively free of silt or the like.

2. In a storage vessel system as set forth in claim l including a length of flexible conduit connected to said another end of the stand pipe, and float means connected to the free end of the flexible conduit to maintain saidl free end at a fixed predetermined distance below the surface of the body of water.

References Cited in the lle of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,321,976 Black June l5, 1943 2,337,472 Kares Dec. 2l, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS 35,055 France .lune 18, 1929 

1. IN A STORAGE VESSEL SYSTEM FOR A FLUID LIGHTER THAN WATER AND IMMISCIBLE THEREWITH, IN COMBINATION, A STORAGE VESSEL DISPOSED IN A BODY OF WATER, THE VESSEL BEING CLOSED ON ALL SIDES EXCEPT FOR THE ENTRY OF THE HEREAFTER MENTIONED CONDUITS AND WEIGHTED TO REST ON A FORMATION AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BODY OF WATER SO AS TO BE FULLY ENVELOPED THEREBY, FIRST CONDUIT MEANS FOR THE FLUID PRODUCT TO BE STORED, SAID FIRST CONDUIT MEANS HAVING ONE END COMMUNICATING WITH THE INSIDE OF THE CLOSED VESSEL NEAR THE UPPER END THEREOF AND HAVING ANOTHER END TO RECEIVE AND DISCHARGE THE FLUID, SECOND CONDUIT MEANS COMPRISING A STAND PIPE HAVING ONE OF ITS ENDS COMMUNICATING WITH THE INSIDE OF THE VESSEL NEAR THE LOWER END THEREOF AND HAVING ANOTHER END DISPOSED ABOVE THE VESSEL AND NEAR THE SURFACE OF SAID BODY OF WATER AND ADAPTED TO RECEIVE AND DISCHARGE WATER, WHEREBY WATER MAY ENTER AND LEAVE THE CLOSED VESSEL ONLY THROUGH THE SECOND CONDUIT MEANS, MEANS AFFORDING A WATER INPUT TO SAID SECOND CONDUIT MEANS FOR MAINTAINING A HYDROSTATIC HEAD ON THE CON- 